Page 20 - Jie Rui Tang Kangxi porcelain mar 2018

301 AN UNDERGLAZE ⌲Ꮴ⛆ 䱿㟞䛶㷼㈲ᆞⅡ倅ธృ࢝−⯿
BLUE AND COPPER-

RED SEAL PASTE
BOX AND COVER

Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period ҳ⎽
秣秉⢕㡦䖤2006䎃3剢29傈管贫447
of compressed circular form over a tapered
foot, the domed cover painted in the ‘Master of
the Rocks’ style with a landscape, in the lower
half of the composition a scholar crossing a
stone bridge accompanied by an assistant
carrying a qin heading toward a thatch-roofed
hut beyond massive boulders, a ! sherman
plying the water nearby, on the opposite bank
two scholars conversing under a tree and an
attendant preparing a meal, the leaves of the
trees picked out in copper-red, the sides of
the box with a continuous mountain landscape
studded with huts and trees (2), coll. no. 1595.
Diameter 5 in., 12.7 cm
PROVENANCE
Christie’s New York, 29th March 2006, lot 447.

$ 10,000-15,000

The palette and style of painting of the Zhonghetang mark, see a porcelain dish, dated accoutrement and were made in various
present piece relate closely to an early type 1672, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares materials including lacquer, jade, ivory and
of Kangxi porcelain known as Zhonghetang from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong porcelain such as the present example. The
wares, all of which are inscribed with cyclical Kong, 1998, pl. 6. poignant depiction of the wandering scholar,
dates corresponding to 1671, 1672, and 1673, longing for retreat in nature where lofty
These elegant shallow boxes evolved as ideal
and were made, according to inscriptions on intellectual accomplishments might be ful! lled
containers for seal paste, which is thick,
each, for the Zhonghetang (Hall of Central without interruption, was a theme familiar to
! brous, derived from silk or plant matter with
Harmony). Long assumed to be located in any scholar-o# cial. The painted scene served
cinnabar or vermillion added for bright red
the Forbidden City, the exact location of as a vicarious means of escape from the
color, and the perfect medium to adhere to
this Hall has never been identi! ed, leading endless bureaucratic tasks and would have
carved stone, bone or metal seals. Receptacles
to recent speculation about the source of been a welcome addition to a scholar’s studio.
for the paste were a necessary scholarly
the commission. For an example with a
18 SOTHEBY’S